There's a fine line in the NRL between perfect line speed, passive defence, or simply being offside.
The problem for the Warriors right now is that they can't seem to find where it is in the first 20 or so minutes of their games this season.
Despite winning four out six, they know full well that if they don't address the issue soon it will cost them dearly.
"You need to get line speed to control the ruck early on in games," second-rower Bayley Sironen told media.
"But it can't be at the expense of giving away penalties. The refs are there, we know where the 10 metres is, so there's no excuse.
"We need to move as a team as soon as the ball is cleared from the ruck and be honest with ourselves."
The Warriors' gift of field position to Newcastle last weekend once again led to another concession of early points. This time there was no miracle comeback, like the one they pulled off against Cronulla, going down 34-24 at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The one positive is that it was the first game this season that the Warriors have not conceded a try in the first five minutes, but not that much considering they did so in the sixth.
Sironen says that improving that area is something the side have been working on during the week in preparation for Saturday's game against a struggling North Queensland outfit at Mt Smart Stadium.
"It's certainly one of them," he said.
"Our ruck control is something we've touched on as well, we haven't been as effective as we want to be in tackles.
"It's round seven though, we know we're not going to be perfect. But we've set ourselves up with a decent start."
Coach Andrew Webster flirted with mentioning the refereeing around offsides, but stuck hard to saying that it was something that was within the Warriors' control.
"It's marginal," he said.
"We get the wide view in the coach's box so we can see where they're standing. You could argue that it's touch and go but we're not like that, we have to be honest with ourselves and say they're giving us an opportunity to penalise us, so let's not do that.
"We're doing line speed drills, we have a referee at training and if someone goes early then we keep them accountable.
"If you want to be elite, you have to get the line speed and stay onside."
